What is a Tipping Fee?
A tipping fee (also known as a gate fee or disposal fee) is the charge levied by a waste processing facility such as a landfill, incinerator, or composting plant for accepting a given quantity of waste for disposal or processing, often calculated per ton or per load.
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Tipping fees serve not only to recover the operational, maintenance and environmental compliance costs of waste management facilities, but also act as a behavioral and policy tool. For example, higher fees for landfill disposal can incentivize greater diversion of waste to recycling, reuse or composting. Related terms include gate fee, which is synonymous, and differential tipping fee, where fees vary by waste type or source. While the fee is charged when material is accepted, its influence feeds back upstream into decisions about packaging, material design and waste generation.